OREANDA-NEWS. May 26, 2011. A meeting with the members of the high-level delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Republic Halaf Halafov, who had arrived in the Turkmen capital, took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

The issues related to further expansion of Turkmen-Azerbaijan partnerships were discussed in a businesslike, constructive atmosphere. Focusing on dynamic development of interstate relationships, which had been brought to a qualitatively new level in recent years, in the bilateral format and within the authoritative international organisations, particularly the United Nations, the meeting participants called for enhancing mutually advantageous long-term cooperation in all fields, including the political, economic and humanitarian spheres. The willingness to promote the interstate dialogue at the level of the foreign ministries was expressed in this context.

A focus of the Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan political consultations was the Caspian Sea related issues, which are of particular concern for President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliev. In this context emphasis was put on the adherence of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to universally recognized norms of international law, the principles of mutual understanding and respect to interests of all partner-countries in the negotiation process aimed at defining the international legal status of the Caspian Sea, conserving its biodiversity and ensuring environmental security of this unique water body.

Concerning the prospects for collaboration in the fuel and energy sector it was emphasized that rapidly developing bilateral partnerships created the conditions conducive to diversification of cooperation in this sector that was a strategic one in the economies of the two hydrocarbon-rich countries. In this context the Azerbaijan side expressed the profound willingness to establish long-term contacts with Turkmen partners.